No DNA retest from Brit tourist bodies at Thai murder trial- lawyer

BANGKOK: The defense team for two Myanmar nationals accused of murdering a pair of British backpackers in Thailand confirmed Sunday that they will not be able to retest crucial DNA samples taken from the victims’ bodies. Migrant workers Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Tun are on trial for the murder of 24-year-old David Miller and the rape and murder of Hannah Witheridge, 23, on Koh Tao Island in September. If found guilty they could face the death penalty. Both have pleaded not guilty. Thai police and prosecutors say forensic evidence strongly points towards the two 22-year-old suspects with both men’s DNA found on or inside the body of Witheridge. But the defense claims the men have been scapegoated by an under pressure police force who bungled their investigation and coerced confessions from the pair which they later retracted.